The present invention relates to clustered file systems, and more particularly, this invention relates to the use of address attributes in cloud storage systems and networks.
Clustered file systems provide a powerful homogenous view and access to diverse sources of storage. However, a major drawback to these systems is that the easiest and most direct method for a user to access the file system data is from a node that is a direct member of the file system cluster. To relax this constraint, services have been implemented on top of clustered file systems that export or externalize the clustered file system data. An example of this is Network File System (NFS) and Server Message Block (SMB) services, which may export the clustered file system. Users may then access the data from any computer system implementing these ubiquitous protocols.
Typically, this service export is associated with the concept of network service addresses. Clients to the external services connect to the clustered file system and the services running on the clustered file system through these network addresses. In most cases, the clients are unaware that they are connected to a cluster. In this environment, high-availability is ensured by implementing these service addresses as aliases attached to physical or virtual adapters. More than one node of the cluster is configured to support the network addresses. In the event that a cluster node currently configured with an address alias fails, then that address is moved to a healthy node. Clients detect this movement and either directly, or transparently, reconnect to the healthy cluster node through the same network address.